Depilation apparatus

ABSTRACT

A depilation apparatus is provided comprising at least one pair of circumferentially cooperating depilation rollers (3, 4, 5, 6) which are arranged at the location of an opening (2) in the apparatus and which are rotatably supported and arranged to be driven in opposite directions of rotation, and also comprising a shear plate (11) which is arranged at the location of the opening in the apparatus, which covers the depletion rollers, and which is formed with elongate hair-entry apertures (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) at the location of the depilation rollers, the elongate hair-entry apertures in the shear plate extending in the longitudinal direction of the depilation rollers and at least up to the ends of the depilation rollers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a depilation apparatus comprising at least onepair of depilation rollers which are arranged at the location of anopening in the apparatus, which are rotatably supported, which arerotatable in opposite directions, which cooperate circumferentially withone another and which perform a rotary movement which is directed intothe interior of the apparatus, and comprising a shear plate arranged atthe location of the opening in the apparatus, which shear plate coversthe depilation rollers and is formed with elongate hair-entry aperturesat the location of the depilation rollers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such a depilation apparatus is disclosed in FR-PS 2,307,491. This knowndepilation apparatus comprises a shear plate which covers the depilationrollers and whose elongate hair-entry apertures extend exclusively inthe area above the depilation rollers, said apertures being arrangedadjacent one another and extending obliquely relative to thelongitudinal direction of the depilation rollers. It has been found thata depilation apparatus having a shear plate of such a construction keepsthe skin effectively away from the depilation rollers but does notprovide a satisfactory depilation quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a depilation apparatus of thetype defined in the opening sentence by means of which a very effectivedepilation can be achieved and which nevertheless keeps the skineffectively away from the depilation rollers.

According to the invention this is achieved in an apparatus whereinelongate hair-entry apertures formed in the shear plate extend in thelongitudinal direction of the depilation rollers and at least up to theends of the depilation rollers. In this way the skin is satisfactorilykept away from the depilation rollers and the shear plate has longhair-entry apertures which allow an effective hair entry to thedepilation rollers in such a way that the end portions of the depilationrollers also partake in the depilation process.

It is preferred that one of the hair entry apertures in the shear platedirectly exposes the area in which the depilation rollers of a paircooperate circumferentially. This permits the entry of hairs exactly inthe area where the depilation rollers are most likely to catch a hair,because the special arrangement of the hair-entry apertures ensures thatthis hair directly comes in the gripping area of the circumferentiallycooperating depilation rollers.

It is also preferred that the shear plate is constructed to extendaround at least one end portion of the depilation rollers and thehair-entry apertures formed in said plate extend into said area aroundthe end portions of the depilation rollers. Such a trough-shapedconstruction of the shear plate ensures that at least one of the endportions of the depilation rollers can actively partake in thedepilation process, which in practice is found to be very effective fora satisfactory depilation.

In this respect it is also preferred that at least one end portion ofthe depilation rollers is rotatably supported on the shear plate. Inthis way a very large area of the end portions of the depilation rollerscan contribute to the depilation process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of a depilationapparatus which comprises a shear plate and which for the extraction ofhairs comprises two pairs of depilation rollers arranged to be rotatablein opposite directions.

FIG. 2 shows the depilation apparatus in a plan view taken on the lineII--II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3, in the same way as FIG. 1, shows a part of a depilationapparatus in which one of the end portions of the depilation rollers isrotatably supported in the shear plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the housing 1 of a depilation apparatus has an opening2 at the location of which two pairs of depilation rollers 3, 4 and 5, 6are arranged to be rotatable. The depilation rollers of each pair 3, 4and 5, 6 cooperate circumferentially with each other and are rotatablein opposite directions, the depilation rollers of each pair performing arotary movement which is directed into the interior of the apparatus atthe location where said rollers cooperate circumferentially with oneanother. The depilation rollers 3, 4, 5 and 6 may be circumferentiallycross-sectional profiles with which they interengage during cooperationof the rollers. As is indicated for the depilation roller 3 of the pair3, 4 in FIG. 1, one of the depilation rollers of each pair can be drivenby a motor 8 via, for example, a multi-stage gear mechanism 7, thedirection of rotation being selected in such a way that the depilationroller 3 performs a rotary movement which is directed into the interiorof the apparatus at the location where it cooperates circumferentiallywith the depilation roller 4. As a result of the circumferentialcooperation of the depilation roller 3 with the depilation roller 4 thedepilation roller 4 is also driven. Thus, the depilation rollers of eachpair are capable of gripping a hair which is & caught between them andof exerting a pulling force on this hair to extract it from itsfollicle. The depilation rollers then feed a hair thus extracted into anadjoining collecting chamber 9 of the depilation apparatus. For thepurpose of cleaning, this collecting chamber 9 of the depilationapparatus may be closed, for example, by means of a cover 10 which isdetachable from the apparatus housing 1.

It is found to be effective to provide such a depilation apparatus witha shear plate 11 which is arranged at the location of the opening 2 inthe apparatus, which covers the depilation rollers 3, 4, 5 and 6, andwhich is formed with elongate hair-entry apertures at the location ofthe depilation rollers, in order to keep the skin away from thedepilation rollers to prevent it from being caught between thedepilation rollers of a pair, which would be very painful and whichwould also impair depilation. In order to obtain an effectiveconstruction of such a shear plate 11 the elongate hair-entry aperturesin the shear plate extend in the longitudinal direction of thedepilation rollers at least up to the ends of the depilation rollers, asis clearly illustrated in FIG. 2. In the present embodiment six of suchhair-entry apertures are provided and bear the reference numerals 12,13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. The hair-entry apertures extend over the wholelength of the depilation rollers. As a result, the depilation rollerscan actively pertake in depilation over their whole length without anyinterruption, i.e. at least up to the ends of the depilation rollers.

In especially preferred embodiments, one of the hair-entry apertures inthe shear plate 11 directly exposes the area in which the depilationrollers of each pair 3, 4 and 5, 6 cooperate circumferentially. As canbe seen in FIG. 2, this is the hair-entry aperture 13, which directlyexposes the area in which the depilation rollers 3 and 4 cooperatecircumferentially and the hair-entry aperture 16, which directly exposesthe area in which the depilation rollers 5 and 6 cooperatecircumferentially. The hairs can directly reach the gripping area of thedepilation rollers of each pair 3, 4 and 5, 6 through these hair-entryapertures 13 and 16 respectively, so that they are gripped effectivelyby the depilation rollers and are extracted correctly. If hairs enterthe other hair-entry apertures 12, 14, 15 and 17 which do not directlyexpose the area where the depilation rollers of a pair cooperatecircumferentially, it is not unlikely that as a result of its rotarymovement the nearest depilation roller also guides such hairs to thegripping area of the depilation rollers of the relevant pair, where theyare also gripped by the circumferentially cooperating depilation rollersand are extracted. This applies in particular to longer hairs.

As can be seen, the shear plate 11 in the present embodiment isconstructed to enclose both end portions of the depilation rollers andthe hair-entry apertures in the shear plate extend into this area aroundthe end portions of the depilation rollers. In this way it is achievedthat the end portions of the depilation rollers can partake in thedepilation process, which is found to be very advantageous for aneffective depilation.

In order to enhance the last-mentioned effect at least one of the endportions of the depilation rollers in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 isrotatably supported in the shear plate 11 , as is illustrated here forthe depilation roller 3 and in the present case this is achieved in thata journal 18 provided at the relevant end of the depilation roller 3 ispassed ,through an opening 19 formed in the shear plate 11, whichopening 19 is situated in an area 20 of the shear plate 11 where theshear plate 11 surrounds the relevant end portion of the depilationroller 3. In this way the shear plate 11 can extend beyond the center ofthe end surface of the depilation roller 3, enabling the hair-entryapertures in the shear plate 11, as is illustrated for the hair-entryaperture 12 in FIG. 3 to be also extended into the area 20 of the shearplate where it surrounds the end portion of the depilation roller, sothat the hairs can readily reach the relevant end portion of thedepilation roller. It is obvious that the end portions of the depilationrollers can be supported in the shear plate in other ways than shown forthe embodiment in FIG. 3. For example the shear plate may be providedwith cup-shaped supports for the journals at the ends of the depilationrollers. Moreover, the depilation rollers may be rotatably supported inthe shear plate at both sides. In such a case the shear plateconstitutes a support for the depilation rollers, which support may bedetachable from or pivotable away from the apparatus in order to providea simple cleaning possibility for the depilation rollers.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, a variety of modifications tothe embodiments described above are possible without departing from thescope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A depilation apparatus for removing body hair comprising atleast one pair of depilation rollers which are arranged at the locationof an opening in the apparatus, which are rotatably supported, which arerotatable in opposite directions, which cooperate circumferentially withone another, and which perform a rotary movement which is directed intothe interior of the apparatus at the location where said depositionrollers cooperate circumferentially; means for rotating said depilationrollers; and a shear plate arranged at the location of the opening inthe apparatus, which shear plate covers the depilation rollers and isformed with a plurality of elongate hair-entry apertures at the locationof the depilation rollers,wherein: the shear plate is constructed toextend around at least one end portion of the depilation rollers; andthe elongate hair-entry apertures formed in the shear plate extend inthe longitudinal direction of the depilation rollers into an area aroundthe end portions of the depilation rollers.
 2. A depilation apparatusfor removing body hair comprising at least one pair of depilationrollers which are arranged at the location of an opening in theapparatus, which are rotatably supported, which are rotatable inopposite directions, which operate circumferentially with one another,and which perform a rotary movement which is directed into the interiorof the apparatus at the location where said depilation rollers cooperatecircumferentially; means for rotating said depilation rollers; and ashear plate arranged at the location of the opening in the apparatus,which shear plate covers the depilation rollers and is formed with aplurality of elongate hair-entry apertures at the location of thedepilation rollers,wherein: the shear plate is constructed to extendaround at least one end portion of the depilation rollers; the elongatehair-entry apertures formed in the shear plate extend in thelongitudinal direction of the depilation rollers into an area around theend portions of the depilation rollers; and one of the hair-entryapertures in the shear plate directly exposes an area in which thedepilation rollers of a pair cooperate circumferentially.
 3. Adepilation apparatus for removing body hair comprising at least one pairof depilation rollers which are arranged at the location of an openingin the apparatus, which are rotatably supported, which are rotatable inopposite directions, which cooperate circumferentially with one another,and which perform a rotary movement which is directed into the interiorof the apparatus at the location where said depilation rollers cooperatecircumferentially; means for rotating said depilation rollers; and ashear plate arranged at the location of the opening in the apparatus,which shear plate covers the depilation rollers and is formed with aplurality of elongate hair-entry apertures at the location of thedepilation rollers,wherein: the shear plate is constructed to extendaround at least one end portion of the depilation rollers, at least oneend portion of at least one of the depilation rollers being rotatablysupported on the shear plate; and the elongate hair-entry aperturesformed in the shear plate extend in the longitudinal direction of thedepilation rollers into an area around the end portions of thedepilation rollers.
 4. A depilation apparatus for removing body haircomprising at least one pair of depilation rollers which are arranged atthe location of an opening in the apparatus, which are rotatablysupported, which are rotatable in opposite directions, which cooperatecircumferentially with one another and which perform a rotary movementwhich is directed into the interior of the apparatus at the locationwhere said depilation rollers cooperate circumferentially; means forrotating said depilation rollers; and a shear plate arranged at thelocation of the opening in the apparatus, which shear plate covers thedepilation rollers and is formed with a plurality of elongate hair-entryapertures at the location of the depilation rollers,wherein: the shearplate is constructed to extend around at least one end portion of thedepilation rollers, at least one end portion of at least one of thedepilation rollers being rotatably supported on the shear plate; theelongate hair-entry apertures formed in the shear plate extend in thelongitudinal direction of the depilation rollers into an area around theend portions of the depilation rollers; and one of the hair-entryapertures in the shear plate directly exposes an area in which thedepilation rollers of a pair cooperate circumferentially.